fall apart
by this is my kingdom come
Summary: Alex fights back tears and walks around to the kitchen, avoiding Justin's hard gaze. This isn't fair. It wasn't her fault. /Who Will Be The Family Wizard? spoliers/ Implied Jalex


Hi I'm writing more Jalex, see? It might be more brother/sister, but I tried to make it romantic...

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[part one]

"Justin, table four needs a tuna salad on rye."

Justin looks up slowly and then turns away.

"Justin."

"Table four needs—"

"I heard you, Alex." Justin continues spreading peanut butter on the sandwich for table six. "Get it yourself."

Alex fights back tears and walks around to the kitchen, avoiding Justin's hard gaze. This isn't fair. It wasn't her fault. They needed to save their friends, she didn't mean for them to get disqualified from the competition. Justin and Max haven't talked to her in three weeks. Most nights, she cries herself to sleep and tears down everyone she actually talks to. It's getting to the point where she hardly wants to wake up in the morning.

She spreads the tuna on lightly and delivers the sandwich before running up to the upstairs bathroom to choke down three Advils to ease her pounding head. It's four o'clock; end of her shift. She walks slowly back to her room and falls asleep.

She wakes up at three in the morning. It takes a minute for her eyes to adjust. And then she sees the shady figure of Justin sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Justin…"

He jumps slightly and looks over at her, squinting to make out her figure. He just looks at her intensely before looking down at his feet. "You missed dinner. You hungry?"

She rolls her eyes and rolls over before closing her eyes.

Justin says nothing and watches Alex fall asleep.

[part two]

"_It's all your fault."_

"_You ruined our lives."_

"_No one's the family wizard. The Russo family line of wizards is discontinued."_

"_Bitch."_

She wakes up every night in a cold sweat and no one notices.

[part three]

"What happened to us?"

Alex looks up at Max from across the dinner table. Everyone else is out, and they're eating Instant Ramen together.

Alex looks down at her cup, twirling noodles around her fork slowly. Max has left his fork in his cup and his stare is intense.

"It's all my fault, Max," she whispers.

"It's not, Alex."

"You can't change what happened. It is."

He pushes his cup to the middle of the table. "You're right, Alex. I can't change what happened. It was an accident. You needed to help them."

Alex closes her eyes. "Thank you."

[part four]

She stays up till two in the morning until Justin comes home and pretends to be asleep. He sneaks into her room and sits down on the bed again. Alex evens out and slows down her breathing to make it more convincible.

"Alex, I'm so sorry. I can't forgive you right now. I needed this. Hell, _you_ needed this. And you're the reason that everything we've been waiting for is gone. Harper and Zeke would've been safe and part of you knew that. It's not fair to me, and it's not fair to dad. You've single-handedly discontinued the line of Russo family wizards. It's just… you've ruined everything. Not just for me, but for you.

"I don't forgive you. But… if you were awake all I could tell you is that I miss you. I miss you more than you could ever realize, and it kills me that I don't know how I can tell you that. I just don't know, Alex. What's going to happen to us next? I can't imagine being without you because I—"

"Justin, stop."

The silence lasts a good five minutes.

"Alex—"

"Justin. Come here so I can see you."

He reluctantly crawls up to and turns over to face her.

"Get under. It's cold." Everything she says is completely monotone, and the last few weeks, she's starting to think the she might suffer from depression. And maybe it's not cold. Everything seems cold now."

So Justin crawls under her comforter, oblivious to the fact that his sister's mind is running a mile a minute.

For a while, they just stare at each other. Justin falls asleep, but Alex doesn't sleep at all.

[part five]

The next day at the sub shop, there a lot less tension between the three siblings. It's not as awkward, and there's a lot more meaningful eye contact.

Everything seems lighter, and Alex doesn't seem so cold. Maybe she's wrong.

[part six]

That night, Justin slips back into Alex's bed without an invitation, but she doesn't mind.

"I missed you, too."

He smiles slightly for the first time in weeks, but when his thoughts come up with the weight of the world, the smiles slips off his face. He needs to tell her.

"Alex, I can't do this to you anymore. I… I forgive you. It wasn't your fault. And I didn't mean anything I said. You haven't ruined it everything. You… you've saved us. We can't be dependent on magic."

"Stop. I haven't saved anything. I'm falling apart."

He sighs. "I need you, Alex. And you need someone to always be there for you, and I haven't been there."

She blinks and hopes he can't see her crying. "I'm sorry. I need you. I need you. I want you to be there. I love you."

His eyes widen, but he pulls himself together before he opens his mouth again. "I love you too, Alex."

She laughs nervously. "You're the best brother I could ask for and I just… I missed you so much."

She curls up to him and leans into his chest and he hugs her close, planting a kiss on her head. "Don't fall apart on me, Alex."

Her lips curl up into a smile. "I'm glad you love me again."

"I never stopped."

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Super cliche ending. Please do not favorite without a review.


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